By: Devonne Tourre

     On September 16th Apple launched iOS 9, “a better experience with every touch”. It was available for Apple products and includes several new and improved features.

    The first new feature that iOS 9 offers is the modern News app. The News app plans to give users up and coming news without having to go through other apps (such as IGN, E!, and the New York Times) to read an article as previous news apps have required. Users can choose which sources to get news from such as E!, Wired, and CNN. The News app provides and shows news in “beautiful ways with rich galleries, videos, and animations” (apple.com).

    Another new application is iCloud Drive, which allows users to see files that are stored on all of their Apple devices, whether a Pages document or pictures, letting the user start a project on one device and finish it on another. This program can be compared to Dropbox for Windows or Google Drive for Google.

    Some pre-existing apps has been revamped, such as Notes, Maps, and Apple Pay. The Notes app now allows the user to make checklists, to scribble down drawings, and to take photos. The revamped Maps app features options for multiple methods of transportation and nearby places, such as specific restaurants and grocery stores. Wallet, which enhances the pre-existing service Apple Pay, now allows for the use of more credit cards and gift cards.

    New features are also coming to Apple’s iPad, such as QuickType, which has been previously available on iPhones and iPods but is now available for the iPad as well. Three new programs have been added to make multitasking on an iPad easier than ever: Slide Over, Split View, and Picture in Picture. Slide Over lets the user quickly responds to anything, such as a text or a tweet and then get right back to whatever their previous task. Split View allows the user to use in two apps at once. Picture in Picture allows the user to work in another app while using Facetime.

    Sam Levitt, a freshman at Oakland Mills High School (OMHS) stated that the new Siri suggestions was his favorite thing about iOS 9. When asked if iOS 9 was more revolutionary that iOS 8, he said that “there wasn’t much of a difference”. Finally, one thing that he would like to see in a future iOS 9 update is a “more advanced Siri”.